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Demon (Book 1)
Synopsis Cait, an Irish junkie living in Glasgow, Scotland, stumbles down into the catacombs of St. Andrews Cathedral aka The Met, to get her fix of the addictive drug Brimstone. Father Simon’s '''waiting for her, and he’s not happy. She’s late. If she misses her regular injection, she could go demon, and that’s bad. Cait’s a '''Homalus. She’s half human, half demon. If she doesn’t take Brimstone, she’ll lose control and the demon part of her will take over. As she slumps into a euphoric drug high, news of an urgent new case comes in. A brutal murder has taken place, and it appears to be of a supernatural nature. Simon and Cait arrive at the scene of the crime; a dilapidated warehouse, '''which houses what’s left of an '''unnamed young girl whose been ripped apart. From the inside out! The sight is enough to sober Cait up. A sigil '''has been drawn on the floor and there’s other satanic worship paraphernalia littered around too. Simon thinks it’s classic vampire activity, but Cait thinks she can sense demon. Could the Brimstone hit be clouding her judgment? Cait finds a ruby red '''ring. Unfortunately, there’s a decapitated finger attached to it too. They bag it up and leave before the arriving police catch them. Back at the Met, Simon examines the ring but dismisses its importance and secures it in the Archives. But Cait got a whiff of demon from it, and goes against Simon by breaking in there to retrieve it. She uses her demon senses to locate it, but also discovers that this is where the Church keeps it’s stock of Brimstone. Cait pockets a couple of vials and leaves, but not before an eerie voice calls out to her from a dusty, creepy old chest in the corner. Freaked out, Cait runs. Realising she’s late, Cait makes for home, a grotty flat paid for by the Church. She lives there with her thirteen-year-old sister, Neve, who’s slightly peeved off that she’s been left to fend for herself, yet again. Neve doesn’t know that Cait is a demon-hunter; she thinks Cait works in a 24hr call center. Cait notices sigil-like markings on Neve’s jotters. Neve claims it was her pal, Mhari, so Cait dismisses it, she’s too busy inspecting the ring and severed finger anyways. She needs help to prove her theory, so visits Dan, her friend with special abilities. Dan can communicate with the dead and can also connect with the past owners of emotionally charged objects. Cait wants him to hold the ring to see if he can read anything from it. He accidentally removes the finger and puts on the ring, and its sinister effects take over. Cait senses a powerful demon. Dan is in the process of being possessed! The demon starts to spit Latin out at Cait, it’s angry, furious in fact. Cait’s lack of knowledge in the language stumbles her. She can’t fight back. A team of doctors and nurses rush in. Dan’s a patient in Gartnavel psych ward because they think he’s nuts. They think he’s having an episode and he’s hauled off Cait, after lunging at her. The ring falls from his finger, and the spell is broken long enough for him to be sedated. Cait recovers the finger and ring before apologizing to Dan and heading back to Simon to report her findings. She arrives to get a bolloking from the exorcist who’s realized she broke into the Archives and stole Brimstone. She tells him that the ring is tainted with demon and reveals what happened to Dan. She regales her experience, while Simon takes notes. He translates “gates of Hell” from her description. It doesn't sound good. Simon warns Cait to stay out of the investigation. She’s already put one friend in danger, she needs to take a step back. He is going to report the case to ‘higher up’. He takes the ring, but she pockets the finger, determined to help solve this case and get back in his good books. Cait returns to the scene of the crime. She finds her way to the back of the warehouse and enters the basement. She’s under the floor of the murder. Scuttling about in the dark with only the light from her phone, she finds another dead body. A Templar Knight '''who has been clawed and scratched to death. He has a tattoo of a sigil on the back of his hand. The same as above and the same one that was on Neve’s School book too! Out of the basement, Cait gets a call from her social worker, '''Sheila Goodwin, who wants to meet Cait straight away for their quarterly assessment. They're always keeping tabs on whether she can look after Neve or not. Cait agrees and goes to fetch Neve from hockey practice at Lourdes Secondary. Cait proudly watches Neve practice with best mate Mhari. Cait queries Mhari about the sigil she’s been drawing everywhere, but Mhari can’t remember where she saw it, and she doesn’t get time to think as an Old Templar Knight, markedly missing one index finger, attacks all three. Mhari’s throat is slashed by his mighty sword. Neve goes into shock as Cait diverts the Knights attention away using the severed finger, but it’s not the digit he’s looking for, it’s the ring! Cait is flummoxed at his Homalus insults. Templar’s are supposed to be on the side of good? The stress of seeing her pal be mortally injured brings on Neve’s Paragonus '''abilities and without knowing how, she’s able to heal her friend. Cait demands they run home while she fends off the angry Knight. Both Neve and Mhari are wearing henna tattoos of the sigil, so Cait is confused as to who the Knight is referring to when he claims “her destiny is foretold”. Cait cuts off his good hand and runs for it. Chasing after a traumatized Neve and Mhari, Cait can’t see hide nor hair of either of them. Cait heads for Mhari’s home, as it’s nearest. Mhari is there, but Neve isn’t. Cait convinces the confused girl to speak nothing of this to her parents, and goes searching for her sister, but Cait can’t find her. She’s not at home and she begins to get worried sick. Out of desperation, she heads to the Met. It’s eerily quiet when she gets there. No ones at reception, and there’s a streak of blood leading towards Simon’s office. Cait cautiously approaches and is nearly attacked by young apprentice, '''Archie, who’s scared out of his wits. Simon’s on the floor, semi conscious with a wound to the chest, bleeding heavily. The Met has been subjected to an attack by a gang of rogue Templar Knights. She reports that Neve is missing and doesn’t know what to do. Gasping for breath, Simon reveals that Neve carries the angel-gene, she’s a Paragonus! Not only that, but Simon’s figured out that these corrupted Templar Knights are trying to find Neve in order to use her to host whatever malignant force they’re trying to summon. As he gets is carted off to hospital in the back of an ambulance, a reeling Cait heads to the Archives to find a spell called “'Finder'” so that she can perhaps trace her sister’s whereabouts. On the way, she finds two dead bodies. That of Father McCrae, and Father Fraser, Archie’s former mentor. Bypassing the bodies she roots about and finds the Finder spell. It’s a blue wisp plugged inside a bottle. Cait releases it and is able to follow the blue light, but not before pocketing another few vials of Brimstone while she’s in there AND hearing that creepy voice from the chest calling her name again. The voice tells her to “go demon”, but she doesn’t hang around to find out any more. The wisp leads Cait to the Necropolis, a great big old cemetery built on a hill near the city center. It swoops under a bush, and Cait discovers the entrance to a hidden tunnel. The tunnel leads to an underground Templar Cave, where Cait finds Neve lying unconscious on a stone altar surrounded by Templar Knights. At the head, looms the Old Knight. The ruby ring hangs around his neck and he holds it over Neve’s head and begins an incantation. While trying to decide what the hell to do, Cait’s mobile rings loudly into the cavern. It’s Sheila probably wondering why Cait didn’t show for their meeting. Unfortunately, it alerts all the Knights to her presence. She’s immediately captured. The old Knight revels in her appearance. He wants her to watch as they summon the demon that will reside inside her sister. He proceeds with the summoning. The ring glows red and Neve begins to convulse. An overpowering sense of demon lets Cait know that they’re succeeding. Neve can maybe hear her sister calling for her to fight it, as the Knight has to take drastic measures. Planting his hand over Neve’s forehead, it’s almost like his life-force is being sucked out of him and into her, feeding the demon as it does. Cait is powerless to do anything, but the horror of watching her sister being tortured like this brings on an unexpected change in her. She goes demon! She’s drawn into the back of her mind as the demon part of her takes control. Physically transforming, she grows horns from her head, a large whiplash tail, razor sharp claws and fangs. This has never happened to Cait before. She’s always been in control up until now. She can’t do anything but sit back and watch as her demon self battles the Knights and eventually overpowers and massacres the lot of them. She’s able to break the grip that the Old Knight has on Neve, and he lies lifeless on the floor. Cait’s fighting is interrupted by the arrival of an unknown vampire, who seems to be helping her to take out each of the remaining Knights. Cait’s demon doesn’t differentiate between who’s good and who’s bad, it just wants to kill. It attacks the vampire, who shows just as much speed and strength than she does. He wraps a discarded sheet over Cait and manages to inject her with one of the vials of Brimstone that she was carrying. She passes out. When she comes too, the vampire is still there, but Neve isn’t. He pockets the ring while Cait grills him for information. He tells her that Neve ran off while he was trying to subdue her. The Old Knight laughs out. He’s barely hanging on, but he has just enough breath still left in him to mock Cait, telling her that his master has risen. Cait doesn’t believe it. She knows she stopped the possession before it went too far. The vampire, '''Gabe, '''admits he’s been looking for a Paragonus too. He believes one can help cure him of his vampirism. He offers to help Cait find her, but she rather impolitely declines. “Never trust a vampire,” that’s what Simon always said. She decided to go it alone.